BOXSCORE
Having already clinched a spot in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament, The College at Brockport Women's Basketball team did not need a victory Saturday afternoon against Cortland. The Golden Eagles, however, came back from a double-digit deficit in the first half to cut the lead to just five points with five minutes to play but Cortland elevated its defense down the stretch and posted a 67-57 win at Corey Gymnasium in Cortland.
Brockport (6-19 Overall, 4-14 SUNYAC) finished the regular season in eighth place in the conference standings and will face top-seeded Geneseo at 7 pm Tuesday in the first round matchup of the SUNYAC Tournament.
Against Cortland, Brockport was led by sophomore Sarah Alwardt (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena), who scored 14 points. Alwardt shot 8-11 from the free-throw line and also collected six rebounds.
“I thought our team did a great job bouncing back from Friday night's loss (at Oswego),” Brockport head coach Nicole Beauregard said of her team's effort, “Our goal was to come out with more defensive intensity and we did that.”
Junior Desiree Fauvelle (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) assisted the Golden Eagles effort with10 points, as freshman Alex Leung (Merrick, NY/W.C. Mepham) scored eight points and junior Ellen Story (Catskill, NY) finished with six points. Junior Rachel Csakany (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) led the team with seven rebounds.
Fauvelle gave Brockport its first lead of the game with a layup at the 15:07 mark of the first half as the Golden Eagles led 7-6. Cortland (18-6, 13-5) regained the lead but a layup by Alwardt tied the game at 9-9. The teams traded baskets for the next two minutes before the Red Dragon broke away with an 8-0 run for a nine-point lead at 21-12 with 10:10 left in the half.
Brockport answered with a run of its own with a 3-pointer by Fauvelle and a layup by Leung before the run was capped by a pair of free throws by Alwardt and the Cortland lead was trimmed to two points at 21-19 with 6:36 to play in the period.
Cortland sank three consecutive 3-poinrt baskets to regain the lead and held a 34-25 advantage at the halftime intermission.
Cortland led by as many as 16 points at the 12:45 mark of the second half, but the Golden Eagles fought back late. Brockport cut Cortland's lead to just five points with 5:06 remaining as Kristin Wegrzyn (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) sparked a Brockport run with a 3-pointer and a free throw and the Cortland lead was just 54-49 with 5:06 remaining after Leung connected on a pair of free throws.
In the closing minutes, the Cortland defensive pressure limited two field goals – both layups by Csakany and the Red Dragons went on to the 10-point victory.
Looking ahead to Geneseo Tuesday, the Golden Eagles have some confidence after nearly upsetting the Knights in Brockport late in January when Geneseo escaped with a 61-52 victory after Brockport held a lead late in the game.
“We feel like Geneseo is a great match-up, and the shorter travel time is better for us,” Beauregard said on the upcoming match-up with the Knights, “Our teams match-up very well. It's going to be a 40-minute battle at their place. We aren't disappointed with the match-up.”
